It did not take long for Tom Brady’s status as an NFL broadcaster and co-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders to show up as a clear conflict of interest.
In announcing the league’s broadcast schedule for the divisional round of the playoffs, one thing stood out: Tom Brady was going to be on the call for the Detroit Lions-Washington Commanders game. And I am glad someone else pointed out the obvious conflict of interest that comes with the intertwining of Brady’s broadcast career and status as a minority owner of the Raiders:
Raiders owner Tom Brady has the Lions game for FOX next weekend 🤔
— Adam Hoge (@adamhoge.bsky.social) January 12, 2025 at 10:24 PM
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There is fixin’ to be some generational tampering here, folks.
On the surface, it is not a big deal that FOX’s NFL broadcast decision-makers sent its A-team crew to Detroit for the Lions-Commanders game. The No. 1-seed Lions are the favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Commanders are an up-start bunch led by the presumptive NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (Jayden Daniels) and one of the best turnaround stories in recent memory.
However, the reality is that things go beyond the surface level. Tom Brady doing the Lions-Commanders broadcast comes days after reports surfaced that the Raiders were “enamored” with Ben Johnson as a candidate for the team’s head coach opening. Vegas emerging as a threat to hire the Lions offensive coordinator isn’t something I had on my 2025 bingo card. But now that Brady is in the mix, there is a distinct possibility that it could happen.
Tom Brady is a wild-card in this head coach hiring cycle
If you were wondering how big of a role a minority owner in a team can play, here is your answer: The MMQB’s Albert Breer reports that Ben Johnson was not planning on interviewing with the Raiders until Tom Brady began pitching him on the job.
More from Breer:
Tom Brady’s presence in Las Vegas shouldn’t be ignored—the smoking gun: Ben Johnson’s candidacy. Johnson initially planned to take three interviews with the Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Patriots. But Brady’s sales job, through intermediaries, made the difference.
Oof. If you are a fan of a team in the Ben Johnson sweepstakes, news of Brady’s arrival should bother you. And that Tom Brady is already using his name to pull previously uninterested candidates in for interviews feels telling. No, Brady won’t likely be involved in the day-to-day operations as a minority owner. His outside obligations will likely keep him out of the Raiders’ facility for a good chunk of time. But you don’t need to be omnipresent when you have are Tom Freaking Brady — the owner of seven Super Bowl rings, three MVP awards, and will one day be honored with induction and enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
I think we are about to find out how influential Tom Brady can be as a minority owner. Given the Raiders’ roster, quarterback situation, and bumpy road to finding an upgrade who will help that team compete in a division that features Andy Reid, Jim Harbaugh, and Sean Payton coaching Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and Bo Nix, it will take one heckuva sales job to reel in a candidate like Ben Johnson. But if anyone can do it, it is probably Brady. After all, we have seen him snatch victory from the jaws of defeat time and time again as a quarterback.
In the end, I expect Tom Brady to keep doing what he is doing until someone in the league office stops him. That might not be for a while. Heck, it might not ever happen. I figure that the only way it does is if Brady fully leverages his status as an owner and presence as a broadcaster to the point where it screws over some other powerful owners. It’ll be fascinating to watch from afar. But I’d be far more intrigued in the lol-factor if the Bears weren’t potentially directly impacted by Brady’s presence.